What Is Gene's Trigger In A Separate Peace

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Gene’s “Trigger” Moments Throughout the novel ‘A Separate Peace’ by John Knowles, readers can critically evaluate how the character Gene interacts and responds to other characters. We see examples of this with several other boys at Devon school, including Finny, Brinker, and Leper. For the most part Gene is a fairly easygoing person. However, several times in the novel another character “triggers” a negative response from Gene. Gene is a round character which means the author wrote him to have vivid character traits. A trait readers can explore is his strong temper, and reactions to certain situations.
The first example occurs between Gene and his best friend Finny. These boys are roommates, and it has been revealed that Gene is secretly envious of Finny and his popularity. “Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud. It was …show more content…

Brinker is considered to be popular, and friendly to everyone at their school. A few weeks following Finny’s accident, Brinker stops by to talk to Gene. He begins accusing Gene of trying to injure Finny on purpose. These comments hit close to home, and we see Gene lash out at what he says. Page 89 says, “‘Doing away with his roommate so he could have a whole room to himself. Rankest treachery.” He paused impressively. “Practically fratricide.” With a snap of the neck I shook his hand off me, my teeth set, “Brinker…” He raised an arresting hand. “Not a word. Not a sound. You’ll have your day in court.”’ It can be argued that Brinker was purposefully tried to get a rouse out of him. This scene was important because it revealed that somebody knew Gene’s

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